Mauricio Pochettino, the former manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has demanded that Chelsea lose their 2016–17 Premier League title and that Spurs be given the title retroactively.
With a club-record 86 points, Pochettino’s Tottenham team finished second to Antonio Conte’s Chelsea that season, seven points behind the winners.
His remarks follow Chelsea’s £10.75 million fine from the Premier League for past violations including secret payments related to transfers and third parties, as reported on Thursday. Deals involving players like Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic were among the breaches, which occurred between 2011 and 2018.
Pochettino, who went on to manage Chelsea in the 2023–24 season, feels that losing the championship ought to have been part of the penalty.
“We ought to have been given the opportunity to win one Premier League.”
“If that [Chelsea’s rule-breaking] was true, then we definitely deserve to be champions that year,” he continued. They acknowledged that they had been punished? That’s all. The squad that finished second should win the title.
The Argentine claimed that Tottenham’s competitive environment differed from Chelsea’s.
“We didn’t play with the same card prior to the start of the season.”
According to Pochettino, Tottenham might have enhanced their team and increased their prospects of winning the championship if they had been allowed to function under the same conditions.
“Maybe we could have signed some players who would have improved the team or scored more goals if the rules had been the same.”
Chelsea’s violations had to do with payments that weren’t disclosed and how some transfer transactions were documented. Following its ownership transition in 2022, the club self-reported the problems and assisted with the ensuing inquiries. Regarding the Premier League’s conclusions, there was no deduction of sports points.
Although Pochettino conceded that Chelsea performed well under Conte, he insisted that infractions ought to have an impact on the competition’s result.
“I don’t claim that Conte wasn’t excellent or that Chelsea didn’t play brilliantly. That’s not what I say. I do not want the message to be misinterpreted.
“But if you broke the rules, then ‘ciao’—you need to give it to another team,” he went on. I’m not sure why that didn’t occur.
Additionally, Pochettino stated that if the roles were reversed, he would hold Tottenham to the same standards.
“I would acknowledge the same thing if we had broken the rules at Tottenham: ‘We don’t deserve the title because we broke the rules.”
With 26 victories, four losses, and 86 points, Tottenham’s 2016–17 season continues to be their best Premier League result. Chelsea, on the other hand, won the championship with 93 points following a 30-win season.
Pochettino’s call notwithstanding, Chelsea is still officially acknowledged as the 2016–17 Premier League champions, with Tottenham coming in second.
